Jimmie Johnson lost a point to Matt Kenseth in the Chase standings on Saturday night at Charlotte. / Kevin Liles, USA TODAY Sports

by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

CONCORD, N.C. -- Brad Keselowski had another bizarre moment in his star-crossed season Saturday night, but this mistake didn't keep him from victory lane.

Rebounding from an unattended jack during a pit stop that dropped him to the end of the lead lap in 21st, Keselowski ended a 37-race winless streak with a dazzling late surge to win the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

It was the first Sprint Cup victory of the season for the defending series champion, who failed to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup this season.

"I just feel there are a ton of bricks that fell off my shoulders," Keselowski said after his 10th career victory and first at the 1.5-mile oval in NASCAR's premier series. "You stand a little taller. I'm really proud of this one.

"There was a lot of adversity throughout this race. The jack got under the car at the midpoint. We kept pushing forward, pushing forward. We have a great team; we just haven't showcased it."

The Penske Racing driver seized first with eight laps remaining after a stirring duel with Kasey Kahne, whose No. 5 Chevrolet was leading after a restart with 23 laps remaining.

"I love hard racing, and there are a handful of guys you can't race hard with because they freak out," Keselowski said. "Kasey's not one of them. He's an excellent driver. He ran me hard, but he ran me clean, and that's great racing. I'm proud to race him. He did a hell of a job and deserves a lot of credit for it."

Said Kahne, who led a race-high 138 of 334 laps: "We were on two (fresh) tires, he was on four, so I felt he could maneuver a touch better than I could. I tried everything to keep him behind me. We just battled hard, and he did a really good job with a fast car at the end. I wish we could have won, but second isn't too bad."

A bevy of championship contenders followed the Penske Racing driver's No. 2 Ford to the finish, as Kahne, points leader Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five.

The championship hunt hardly was impacted by the event marking the halfway point of the 10-race Chase. Kenseth increased his lead by one marker to four points over Johnson, and the rest of the top five in the standings -- Harvick (29 points behind), Gordon (36) and Busch (37) -- remained unchanged.

The complexion of a mostly incident-free race was altered significantly by a caution for backstretch debris on lap 308. Johnson had been in control of the race during a green-flag run in leading 129 of 130 laps, but the five-time champion fell to third (getting beat out of the pits by Gordon) during a final round of pit stops under the last yellow.

On the restart with 23 to go, Johnson got caught in the middle lane and slipped four spots in his No. 48 Chevrolet and lost a shot at the victory.

"Down in (turns) 1 and 2, I just got in the dirty air, and a couple of cars got inside with me," he said. "If we could have started on the front row, it probably would have been much different results."

After starting 20th and struggling with the handling of his No. 20 Toyota for most of the first 100 laps, Kenseth steadily worked his way into the top 10 by lap 150 and crept into the top five with 100 to go.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver rebounded with his third top five of the Chase after an 11th at Kansas.

"I'm happy to finish third," Kenseth said. "We were off the first two to three runs, and I couldn't get it to turn and then I found some adjustments I really liked. We were so far behind because I qualified poorly, and then at the end, (the team) he gave us a shot to win. I'm slightly disappointed I didn't take advantage of that opportunity."

With Gordon starting on the pole position, Hendrick Motorsports drivers were dominant while trading the lead from the outset and for much of the race's first half.

Gordon led the first 26 laps before surrendering first during pit stops under the first yellow flag (for a Turn 1 crash involving J.J. Yeley).

Kahne left the pits with the lead but yielded to Earnhardt Jr. on a lap 30 restart.

NASCAR's most popular driver led 14 laps before trash on the grille of his No. 88 Chevrolet caused him to drift back in the field, trying to remove the debris and avoid overheating.

"The car just got really, really tight. The car was real quick at the start of the race," Earnhardt said. "I still thought we had a top-five car. I don't know what happened exactly. I think we lost the rubber out of the right rear spring. It just would not turn the last half of the race. We'll get it back to the shop and look at it on Monday."

Kahne held the lead from then forward except during green-flag pit cycles before Johnson took his first lead on a Lap 178 restart.

Busch also fought hard to keep his title hopes alive after suffering a major blow last week at Kansas Speedway, where he was involved in three cautions and finished 34th.

He got off to another tough start at Charlotte, restarting in 31st on lap 30 after making a second stop under yellow for missing lug nuts. But the No. 18 Toyota had powered into the top five 100 laps later and stayed in contention the rest of the way despite Busch radioing about intermittent engine woes.

"Certainly got a top five, which is good," Busch said. "But when it's time for championship time, you need wins. We can't win."

Earnhardt faded to 15th in the 500th start of his career.

"The car just got really, really tight," said NASCAR's most popular driver, who led 19 laps. "Something in the setup moved. The car was real quick at the start of the race, and I was real happy with the speed. I thought we had a top-five car, and I don't know what happened. It just would not turn at all the last half of the race pretty much. We just have to figure out what's going on. We'll figure it out when we get to the shop on Monday. Still a good effort."

Kyle Larson, making his Sprint Cup debut for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, finished 37th after blowing an engine on lap 247.